The recent resurgence of Russian military posturing coupled with their invasion of Georgia last year ought to give some pause. Putin has effectively sold Russia's physical and industrial resources to his friends and now runs the world's largest criminal state. He can operate much more effectively as he has none of the drag of a communist system, but retains the desire to play a dominant role in the world. -- BLACKFIVE: Russian fists clenching

Early in August, Vladimir Putin went on vacation. It wasn't like the ongoing vacationfest of Martha's vineyard that has so tuckered out President Obama that he needs to flee to Camp David. Pictures taken on Putin's much more rugged vacation were published in Russia and around the world. In the US and Western Europe these images were greeted with almost universal derision.

After days of non-stop evaluation, adulation, and reflection MSNBC, CNN, The New York Times, and Captain James T. Kirk collaborate on a final wrap-up on the current status of Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

I like to think this ongoing collection of links, images, quotations, and other objects is of more than passing interest to my readers. The nature of the beast is, however, that items scroll down from the top and then off into the great always wiped-clean white board of the Web.

Because some of these items have more than a passing interest, and because, I guess, I can, I'll be posting a once a month round-up of "On the Right" here. Mainly for historic reasons, such as history is these days, but also because it seems to me to be of interest to be able to scroll backwards into recent past before it becomes history.

That said it's been a hectic month @ On the Right. Here's the long, long collection of more than 275 items I thought it worthwhile showcasing in August (It might take a bit to load, but then again it's a big load.

I once met a man who heard happy voices. I was walking down the hall of the locked ward in the hospital’s inpatient facility (“Club Head”, we called it) and a young man with dark curly hair approached me, staring into space, smiling, giggling, laughing. He turned his head to whisper to someone who was obviously not there. We passed each other and I heard him chuckle and say, “That’s very funny.” I knew he wasn’t talking to me–I hadn’t said or done anything–and I knew he was psychotic (I recognised the symptoms). At dinner that night I asked my roommate about the young man. “Oh, that’s Kevin," he answered. "He hears happy voices.” I immediately hated Kevin."-- BEING CRAZY IS NOISY | More Intelligent Life

Opening September 8 at the Koplin Del Rio Gallery at 6031 Washington Blvd Culver City, California , this art show could be a blast or a bomb. One way or another, it will test the limits of Muslim tolerance in our new age of "understanding" and "dialogue" with Islam....

Another human, confronted with the co-joined alpha and omega point of both what we know and the limits of what we can know, explains it all for you. She's convinced and yet, somehow, lacking in conviction.

"Oklahoma man — eighth-grade teacher by day, militant blogger by night — who may personify it more than any of the conservatives who, when the town halls pass, may be pointing the way to a holy war that goes way beyond health care."

I would hope that this profile has nothing to do with the disappearance of The Return of Scipio.

Any information would be appreciated.

UPDATED: I've received an email from Austin. He's fine and says that he has shut the page down for now for personal reasons. He was not coerced in any way. It is unknown if the page will return.

Public health officials are considering promoting routine circumcision for all baby boys born in the United States to reduce the spread of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS.

The topic is a delicate one that has already generated controversy, even though a formal draft of the proposed recommendations, due out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the end of the year, has yet to be released.

Experts are also considering whether the surgery should be offered to adult heterosexual men whose sexual practices put them at high risk of infection. But they acknowledge that a circumcision drive in the United States would be unlikely to have a drastic impact: the procedure does not seem to protect those at greatest risk here, men who have sex with men. [I note in passing that "homosexual" as a word is out and the more casual "men who have sex with men" is in. I'll leave that little bit of bureaucrat drool for another time. ]

"An environmental impact statement (EIS) under United States environmental law, is a document required by the National Environmental Policy Act for federal government for ps3 users agency actions "significantly affecting the quality of the human environment."[1]

It's difficult to think of a "policy" more likely to impact "the quality of the human environment" than the current behemoth of a bill before the congress. We've had press conferences and postings, meetings and punditocracy without number. We've not seen the background documents used to create this legislation except in a few leaked memos. Nor have we seen a summation of those documents except in a few descriptions offered by the President or the boosters of the bill in speeches or declarations. These are inadequate. There's another way; an extant process. One that the government is already set up to produce....

"Paul Mawhinney was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Over the years he has amassed what has become the world's largest record collection. Due to health issues and a struggling record industry Paul is being forced to sell his collection."

With his re-election prospects dimming by the day, Mayor Greg Nickels conceded Friday morning that he had lost the primary election. It's a stunning defeat for the two-term incumbent....

It's also a stunning opportunity for me to launch, at last, my fiendish plan for Seattle by taking advantage of the opening and having myself elected as Mayor. Here's my platform from 2007. I'm still convinced it's a winner.

Of course, like most of Obama's bon-mots, it has a distinct flavor of ambiguity to it. To say some one is "wee-weed up" does not tell us the exact state of his or her Washington micturation situation. No, it leaves us in the dark with someone who may well be "wee-weed-up." A dangerous position, you will agree. One in which you would not want to feel a spill going up your leg unless you were Chris Matthews.

Examples: hotchpotch of errors, 1728; of garlic and cheese, 1591; of ideas; of many meats, 1530; of all sorts of men, 1652; of many nations, 1652; of true religion and popery, 1888; of songs, 1835; of tastes; of words, 1386.

I've always wanted to use the word hodgepodge in a title of a blog post. I wonder if I'll make the first page on Google -- there's not much competition other than some definitions and a few stores.

Appropriationists: "Their work is caracterized by... recycling... cultural iconography by [arranging] elements of it in another context ...: a detour in which... the blow up of the reproduction can become more original than the original itself." -- American Appropriationists and the Lolita-Complex

"After Obama was elected, you had all of these people who basically saw him as the second coming of Christ," Alkhateeb said. "From my perspective, there wasn't much substance to him. I abstained from voting in November," he wrote in an e-mail. "Living in Illinois, my vote means close to nothing as there was no chance Obama would not win the state." If he had to choose a politician to support, Alkhateeb said, it would be Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich.

I blame the always besotted Vodkapundit who has, it seems, gulled Morgan at House of Eratosthenes, as well as The Classic Liberal, and even the otherwise sensible Smitty @ The Other McCain into promoting this gelded celebration of haute nerdgeekdom. True it does feature many hot bikini girls. But what, in the name of all that is holy, are they doing? They're reading Star Wars, a movie that should have been buried in the Nevada salt pits decades ago so it could not continue to infect the culture.

The result? Hot babes spewing pablum. Nerd. Nerd.Nerd.NERD! Check it out and check out the competition...

âsnow on the waterâ applies to social media as well. Theyâre conversational in the literal sense. Theyâre weather within which tweets fly and fall like flakes, and disappear into the collective unconscious.

On the other hand, blogging is geology. A blogâs posts may be current and timely, and constitute one personâs contribution to conversation around a subject or two, but each post is built to last. It has a âpermalinkâ. Over time posts accumulate like soil deposits. You can dig down through layers of time and find them. What do tweets have? Temp-o-links?

Jefferson Robbins of Film Freak Central contemplates Mad Men and concludes, "The only thing left for me to discuss is the hidden star of the show, something designed to go unnoticed unless you squint." The result is this compelling and illuminating exploration of the cinematography.

A recent comment caused me to remember an article I wrote for a Time Magazine special issue on Cyberspace back in the Stone Age aka "1995:" TWILIGHT ZONE OF THE ID Wednesday, Mar. 01, 1995 By GERARD VAN DER LEUN

The joint is called #hottub (pronounced "pound hot tub''), and it's open almost all the time. I've been soaking in it for two hours with "Bubbles,'' "Hard Charger'' and "Lush Lady.'' Charger and Lady are, shall we say, flirting heavily, while Bubbles is trying to get my attention. But s/he's a notorious transvestite, so I'm keeping my distance. People float in and out of this hot tub, which is open to all comers, but no one ever gets wet -- just a little damp sometimes. If you fancy someone, and he or she fancies you, it is possible to go private and exchange sexual fantasies until you're too exhausted, or bored, to continue.

This steamy place doesn't exist in the physical world. It is a "channel'' on Internet Relay Chat (called IRC among netheads). IRC consists of a series of real-time discussions on the Internet. Think of it as CB radio that you type instead of speak. Any number can play. And lots do.

A maze of steamy places that don't exist makes up the warp and the woof of sex on the Net today. The fact that virtual sex happens on the Net upsets a lot of people. Unfortunately, sex on the Net turns on a lot of people too. I know. I've been covering sex on the networks for nearly 10 years. Strictly as a professional, of course. I've seen things that would make William Burroughs blush and send Catharine MacKinnon into cardiac arrest. I've had a chance to order whips and chains by the gross, drop in on group sex and download more explicit pictures than are displayed in a decade's worth of Hustler. In one day, I've read more intimate confessions than are found in a year's worth of Penthouse letters. All this as an objective journalist, mind you. I report on cybersex, but I don't give it my essence.

Turns out Mr. Clinton decided to celebrate his 63rd birthday with a dinner at one of this city’s hottest – and most pricey – restaurants: Craftsteak at the MGM Grand hotel. How pricey? The 8-ounce wagyu New York strip steak goes for $240. (Potatoes and other sides are extra)

Turns out Mrs. Clinton is stuck in the Congo where $240 buys dinner for about 500. She probably declined to phone conference in for a rousing round of "Happy Birthday."

An intercom system with concealed microphones and speakers allows safe communication with people outside of the vehicle without the need to open doors or windows. Additional safety options include an assault alarm, fire extinguishing system with temperature sensor for extinguishing fires in the engine compartment and below the vehicle as well as irritant gas sensors for protecting passengers from gas attacks. If the interior protection system is triggered by excess gas levels, all windows are closed automatically, the central locking system is activated, the fresh air valves are closed and the ventilation system is shut off. An additional internal fresh-air supply system ensures that passengers are provided with breathable air. BMW also offers special options for authorities, governments and embassies. The package provides a range of special features such as flag holders, arrangements for radio installations right through to a gun case with compartments for two machine guns in the center console.

I am writing in response to your demand for additional money via the "WTF!? Re-Financing America's Health Care Through Gentle Extortion Act." I wish I could help you. God knows I need medical care now. Repeated exposures to you, your "speeches," and your policies have left me with an extreme case of "Spontaneous Projectile Vomiting" which I desperately would like to shake. Still, as much as I need it, I find I cannot pay for your "Free" Health Care.

In previous years I might have been able to pay doctor's a reasonable sum for curing me, but now my tax advisors tell me I can't even afford to pay you to get the "Free" kind of health care. I find I have neither the resources nor the complexion to benefit from your visionary. In short, in the middle of your term I find myself, along with 150 million other Americans, caught in an "Out of the Money Experience."

In my last letter to you I put "Poor Planning" as the cause of my overnight insolvency. You asked for a fuller explanation and I trust the following details will be sufficient.

I am a taxpayer by trade. During the last year of our recent national mortgage "accident," I was working alone on the roof of a broken-down six-story building in West LA, laying down slate shingles and edging it with solid copper gutters, hoping to flip it to "Flip This House" at the Steal It Yourself cable franchise, or to palm it off on the wise Latina down the block until she got a job with the government and moved to Washington. (Thanks for that one, Barry.)

But on August 4, that all changes, as Asylum bands together with the other manly sites of the Web in an Internet-wide media ban on all things Megan Fox. After the jump, see our explanation and find out how you can help.

.... we understand the pressure neutered nerds of all 6 sexual persuasions are under when it comes to:

MEGAN FOX. Here seen promoting environmentally-friendly faux fur.

But, puhlease dear nerd and nerdette...., never, EVAH, again announce it by making a video that requires us to see the dubious physique and hair coverage of one constrasted against the receding chin state and prolapsed cleavage of the other. It is the eyes to bleeding be....

Michelle: Just Plain Folks (with an entourage large enough to drop a charging rhino at fifty yards)

"In my own life, in my own monomanical way, I have tried to take as much money and jobs and positions as I can possibly claw from this country that has given me so much, and is so willing to give me more," Michelle said. "See, that's why I left my dead-end job at a big law firm for a corrupt and high paying career in public service. But let me tell you, the plane is the best bit of gaming the government I've ever done. I can't believe you fools are actually paying for this stuff."

David Vance @ one of my favorites, JammieWearingFool brings us up to date on the woman who would be queen.

That moved me - did it move you? So, how has Michelle been getting on in her role as First Lady? Let's consider those on her staff, shall we?

To put it in context, Hillary Clinton had a staff of three, Laura Bush a staff of one. Long ago, Jacqui Kennedy had one. In these frugal recessionary times, how many has lovely Michelle? Michelle has a staff of...twenty two.

First Lady requires more than twenty attendants Here's what she pays them in this time when all Americans are being called on by the Obamas to sacrifice for the greater good. I note that this information comes to you courtesy of the Canada Free Press, rather than the press of the frothing Obamallatio addicts of America's "Free" Press:

Jim Carter, a stoker on a luxury liner, loses his job after he reveals that he has faked a broken arm, and he vows to those wealthy people looking down on him in the stoke hole and laughing that someday he will be where they are. After Jim fails to last as a target in blackface at a sideshow for baseball pitches in a carnival, Pop McWade, owner of the carnival show "Dante's Inferno," offers him a job cleaning up the place.